Donald John Trump
(born June 14, 1946) is the 45th
and current President of the United States, in office since January 20, 2017. Before entering politics, he was a businessman and television personality.

Family and personal life

Ancestry

Trump's ancestors originated from the German village of
Kallstadt
in the Palatinate
on his father's side, and from the Outer Hebrides
in Scotland
on his mother's side. His grandparents and his mother were born in Europe.[1]

Trump's paternal grandfather,
Friedrich Trump, first emigrated to the United States in 1885 at the age of 16 and became a citizen in 1892. He amassed a fortune operating boom-town restaurants and boarding houses in the Seattle area and the
Klondike
region of Canada during its gold rush.[2]
On a visit to Kallstadt, he met Elisabeth Christ
and married her in 1902. The couple settled in New York permanently in 1905.[3]
Frederick died from influenza
during the 1918 pandemic.[4]

Trump's father
Fred
was born in 1905 in The Bronx. Fred started working with his mother in real estate when he was 15, shortly after his father's death. Their company, Elizabeth Trump & Son, was primarily active in the
New York boroughs
of Queens
and Brooklyn. Fred eventually built and sold thousands of houses, barracks, and apartments.[4][5]
The company later became The Trump Organization
after Donald Trump took over in 1971.[6]

Trump's mother
Mary Anne
was born in Tong, Lewis, Scotland. At age 18 in 1930, she emigrated to New York, where she worked as a maid.[7]
Fred and Mary were married in 1936 and raised their family in Queens.[7][8]

Trump's uncle
John
was an electrical engineer, physicist, and inventor. He worked as a professor at MIT
from 1936 to 1973. During World War II, he was involved in radar research for the Allies and helped design X-ray machines that were used to treat cancer.[9]

Early life and education

Donald Trump was born on June 14, 1946, at the Jamaica Hospital Medical Center,
Queens, New York City, the fourth of five children.[12]
Trump grew up in Jamaica, Queens, and attended the
Kew-Forest School
from kindergarten through seventh grade. At age 13, he enrolled in the New York Military Academy, a private boarding school, after his parents discovered that he had made frequent trips into Manhattan without their permission.[13][14]

Trump did not serve in the military during the
Vietnam War.[21]
While in college from 1964 to 1968, he obtained four student deferments.[22]
In 1966, he was deemed fit for service based upon a military medical examination, and in 1968 was briefly classified as fit by a local draft board. In September of that year, he was given a medical deferment, which he later attributed to
heel spurs.[23]
In 1969, he received a high number in the draft lottery, which gave him a low probability to be called to military service.[23][24][25]

In October 1993, Maples gave birth to Trump's daughter, who was named
Tiffany
after high-end retailer Tiffany & Company.[34]
Maples and Trump were married two months later in December 1993.[35]
They divorced in 1999,[36]
and Tiffany was raised by Marla in California.[37]

Upon his inauguration as president, Trump delegated the management of his real estate business to his two adult sons, Eric and Don Jr.[43]
His daughter Ivanka resigned from The Trump Organization and moved to Washington with her husband Jared Kushner. She serves as an assistant to the president,[44]
and he is a Senior Advisor
in the White House.[45]

Trump receives
Holy Communion, but he has said that he does not ask God for forgiveness. He stated: "I think if I do something wrong, I just try and make it right. I don't bring God into that picture....I guess that [Communion] is a form of asking for forgiveness".[53]
On the campaign trail, Trump has referred to
The Art of the Deal
as his second favorite book after the Bible, saying, "Nothing beats the Bible."[54]The New York Times
reported that Evangelical Christians
nationwide thought "that his heart was in the right place, that his intentions for the country were pure".[55]

Health

In 2016, Trump's physician,
Harold Bornstein, issued a medical report that showed Trump's blood pressure and liver and thyroid function to be in normal ranges.[60][61]
It also showed that he is overweight and takes statins to lower his cholesterol.[61]

Trump
does not drink alcohol; this decision arose in part from watching his older brother Fred Jr. suffer from alcoholism that contributed to his early death in 1981.[62][63]
He also said that he has never smoked cigarettes or consumed drugs, including marijuana.[64]

Wealth

Trump said that he began his career with "a small loan of one million dollars" from his father.[65]
He appeared on the initial Forbes 400
list of wealthy individuals in 1982 with an estimated $200 million fortune, including an "undefined" share of his parents' estate.[66]
During the late 1980s he became a billionaire,[67]
and made the Forbes World's Billionaires
list for the first time in 1989,[68]
but he was absent from the Forbes 400
list following business losses from 1990 to 1995; he reportedly borrowed from his siblings' trusts in 1993.[66]
His father's estate, valued at more than $20 million, was divided in 1999 among Trump, his three surviving siblings and their children.[69][70]

When Trump announced his candidacy for the presidency on June 16, 2015, he released a one-page financial summary that stated a net worth of $8,737,540,000.[72]
The following month, he filed a 92-page Federal Election Commission
(FEC) financial disclosure form[73]
and declared his net worth was "in excess of ten billion dollars".[74]
In his presidential announcement speech, he said "I'm really rich", and said this would make him less indebted to large campaign donors.[75][76]Forbes
called his net worth estimate "a whopper", setting their own estimate at $4.1 billion in 2015. Trump valued his "properties under development" at $293 million; Forbes
said they could not evaluate those deals, and booked them for $0.[77][78]
Trump's 2015 FEC disclosure reported $362 million in total income for the year 2014.[74]

After Trump made controversial remarks about illegal immigrants in 2015, he lost business contracts with several companies; this reduced his
Forbes
estimate by $125 million.[79]
Consumer boycotts and reduced bookings may have further affected his brand value during the presidential campaign.[80][81][82]
Trump's 104-page FEC disclosure in May 2016[83]
still claimed a total wealth over $10 billion, unchanged from 2015.[73]
The release of the Access Hollywood
tapes
in October 2016 put further pressure on his brand,[84]
but real estate experts predicted a positive rebound from being President after he was elected.[85]

In its 2017 billionaires' ranking,
Forbes
estimated Trump's net worth at $3.5 billion (544th in the world, 201st in the U.S.)[86]
making him one of the richest politicians in American history. These estimates fluctuate from year to year, and among various analysts. In July 2016
Bloomberg News
had pegged his wealth at $3 billion, calling it an increase thanks to his presidential nomination,[87]
whereas Forbes
had ranked him 324th in the world (113th in the U.S.) with $4.5 billion just a few months earlier.[88]
The discrepancies among these estimates and with Trump's own figures stem mainly from the uncertain values of appraised property
and of his personal brand.[89]

Business career

Real estate

Trump started his career at his father's real estate development company, Elizabeth Trump & Son, which owned middle-class rental housing in New York City's outer
boroughs, but also had business elsewhere.[90]
For example, during his undergraduate study, Trump joined his father Fred in revitalizing the foreclosed Swifton Village apartment complex in
Cincinnati, Ohio, boosting the occupancy rate from 66% to 100%.[91][92]

When his father became chairman of the board in 1971, Trump was promoted to president of the company and renamed it
The Trump Organization.[6][93]
In 1973, he and his father drew wider attention
when the Justice Department
contended that the organization systematically discriminated against African Americans who wished to rent apartments. The Department alleged that the Trump Organization had screened out people based on race and not low income, as the Trumps had stated. Under an agreement reached in 1975, the Trumps made no admission of wrongdoing and made the Urban League
an intermediary for qualified minority applicants.[94][95]
His adviser and attorney during (and after) that period was Roy Cohn, who responded to attacks by counterattacking with maximum force, who valued both positive and negative publicity, and who Trump emulated.[96]

Manhattan developments

In 1978, Trump consummated his first major real estate deal in Manhattan when he purchased a half-share in the decrepit Commodore Hotel. The purchase was largely funded by a $70 million construction loan that was jointly guaranteed by Fred Trump and the
Hyatt
hotel chain. Designed by architect Der Scutt, the project leveraged competing interests and by taking advantage of tax breaks.[97]
After remodeling, the hotel reopened as the Grand Hyatt Hotel, located next to
Grand Central Terminal.[98][99]

Also in 1978, Trump finished negotiations to develop
Trump Tower, a 58-story, 202-meter (663-foot) skyscraper in
Midtown Manhattan, which
The New York Times
attributed to his "persistence" and "skills as a negotiator".[100]
To make way for the new building, a crew of undocumented Polish workers demolished an old Bonwit Teller
store, including art deco
features that had initially been marked for preservation.[101]
The building was completed in 1983 and houses both the primary penthousecondominium
residence of Trump and the headquarters of The Trump Organization.[102][103]
Architectural critic Paul Goldberger
said in 1983 that he was surprised to find the tower's atrium was "the most pleasant interior public space to be completed in New York in some years".[104][105]
Trump Tower was the setting of the NBC television show The Apprentice
and includes a fully functional television studio set.[106]

Repairs on
Central Park's
Wollman Rink
begun in 1980 by a general contractor
who was unconnected to Trump. Despite an anticipated two and a half year construction timeframe, the repairs remained incomplete in 1986. Trump took over the project, completed it in three months for $1.95 million, $775,000 less than the initial budget. He operated the rink for a year with most profits going to charity and public work projects,[107]
in exchange for the rink's concession
rights.[108]

In 1988 Trump acquired the
Plaza Hotel
in Manhattan for a record-setting $407 million and asked his wife Ivana to manage its operation.[109]
Trump invested $50 million to restore the building, which he called "the Mona Lisa".[110]
According to hotel expert Thomas McConnell, the Trumps boosted it from a three-star to a four-star ranking and sold it in 1995, by which time Ivana was no longer involved.[111]

In 1994, Trump became involved with a building on
Columbus Circle
that was swaying in the wind. He began a reconstruction project that stopped the swaying and gave the building a full makeover.[112][113]
Trump thereafter owned commercial space in that 44-story mixed-use tower (hotel and condominium), which he named Trump International Hotel and Tower.[114]

In 1996, Trump acquired the Bank of Manhattan Trust Building, which was a vacant seventy-one story skyscraper on
Wall Street
that had briefly been the tallest building in the world
when it was completed in 1930. After an extensive renovation, the high-rise was renamed the Trump Building at 40 Wall Street.[115]

In 1997, he began construction on
Riverside South, which he dubbed
Trump Place, a multi-building development along the
Hudson River. The project encountered delays the following year because a subcontracter had to replace defective concrete.[116][117]
He and the other investors in the project ultimately sold their interest for $1.8 billion in 2005 in what was then the biggest residential sale in the history of New York City.[118]

From 1994 to 2002, Trump owned a 50% share of the
Empire State Building. He would have renamed it "Trump Empire State Building Tower Apartments" if he had been able to boost his share.[119][120]

Trump's initial offer of $28 million had been rejected, and he was able to get the property at the much lower price by purchasing
Jack C. Massey's beachfront property for $2 million[126]
and threatening to build a house on it that would block Mar-a-Lago's ocean view. In addition to using the estate as a home, Trump also turned it into a private club open to everyone who could afford the initiation fee of $100,000 plus annual dues.[127]

In 1986, Trump acquired a foreclosed 33-story, twin-tower condominium complex in nearby
West Palm Beach
for $40 million. Auto CEO Lee Iacocca
invested in three of the condos.[128]
Trump spruced up the complex's public areas and heavily promoted the property for years, but selling the units proved difficult, and the deal turned out to be unprofitable.[129]

Atlantic City casinos

New Jersey
legalized casino gambling in 1977, and the following year Trump was in Atlantic City, New Jersey, to explore how he might get involved in a new business venture. Seven years later,
Harrah's at Trump Plaza
hotel and casino opened there, built by Trump with financing from Holiday Corporation, which also managed the operation.[130]
Renamed "Trump Plaza" soon after it opened, it was at the time the tallest building in Atlantic City.[131]
The casino's poor financial results exacerbated disagreements between Trump and Holiday Corp., which led to Trump's paying $70 million in May 1986 to buy out their interest in the property.[132][133]
Trump also acquired a partially completed building in Atlantic City from the Hilton Corporation
for $320 million; when completed in 1985, that hotel and casino became Trump Castle, and Trump's wife,
Ivana, managed that property until Trump transferred her in 1988 to run the Trump Plaza Hotel in New York.[134][135]

Also in 1988, Trump acquired his third casino in Atlantic City, the
Taj Mahal
(then halfway through construction), through a complex transaction with television host and entertainer Merv Griffin
as well as the resort and casino company Resorts International.[136]
In October 1989, three of his top Atlantic City executives were killed in a helicopter accident, which both stymied and delayed the planned opening of the Taj Mahal.[137]
The Taj finally opened in April 1990 and was built at a total cost of $1.1 billion, which at the time made it the most expensive casino ever.[138][139]
The project was financed with $675 million in junk bonds[140]
and was a major gamble by Trump.[141]
The project underwent debt restructuring
the following year,[142]
leaving Trump with 50% ownership.[143]
He also sold his 282-foot (86 m) megayacht, the
Trump Princess, which had been indefinitely docked in Atlantic City while leased to his casinos for use by wealthy gamblers.[144][145]

In 1995, Trump founded
Trump Hotels & Casino Resorts
(THCR), which assumed ownership of Trump Plaza, Trump Castle, and the Trump Casino
in Gary, Indiana.[146]
THCR purchased Taj Mahal in 1996 and underwent bankruptcy restructuring in 2004 and 2009, leaving Trump with 10% ownership in the Trump Taj Mahal and other Trump casino properties.[147]
From mid 1995 until early 2009, he served as chairman of the publicly-traded
THCR organization—which was renamed Trump Entertainment Resorts—and served as CEO from mid 2000 to mid 2005.[148]

Golf courses

The Trump Organization operates many
golf courses
and resorts in the United States and around the world. According to Golfweek, Trump owns or manages about 18 golf courses.[151]
His personal financial disclosure with the Federal Elections Commission
stated that his golf and resort revenue for the year 2015 was roughly $382 million,[73][83]
while his three European golf courses did not show a profit.[87]

In 2006, Trump bought 1,400 acres (570 ha), including the
Menie Estate
in Balmedie,
Aberdeenshire, Scotland, and created a golf resort there.[152]
Scottish supporters emphasized potential economic benefits, and opponents emphasized potential environmental harm to a Site of Special Scientific Interest
(SSSI).[153][154][155]
A spokesperson for the golf course has said 95% of the SSSI is untouched.[156]
A 2011 independent documentary, You've Been Trumped, chronicled the golf resort's construction and struggles.[157]
In 2015, an offshore windfarm
being built within sight of the golf course prompted a legal challenge by Trump, which was dismissed
by the U.K. Supreme Court.[158]
In the wake of the 2008 recession, Trump greatly scaled back development of this property, and as of December 2016 Scottish officials were pushing for completion of the far larger development as originally approved.[159]

In April 2014, Trump purchased the
Turnberry
hotel and golf resort in Ayrshire, Scotland, which hosted
the Open Championship
four times between 1977 and 2009.[160][161]
After extensive renovations and a remodeling of the course by golf architect Martin Ebert, Turnberry was re-opened in June 2016.[162]

Branding and licensing

Trump has marketed his name on a large number of building projects that are owned and operated by other people and companies. He has also licensed his name for various commercial products and services. In doing so, he achieved mixed success for himself, his partners, and investors in the projects.[164]
In 2011, Forbes'
financial experts estimated the value of the Trump brand
at $200 million. Trump disputed this valuation, saying his brand was worth about $3 billion.[165]
According to an analysis by The Washington Post, there are more than 50 licensing or management deals involving Trump's name, which have generated at least 59 million dollars in revenue for his companies.[166]

Legal affairs and bankruptcies

As of 2016, Trump and his businesses had been involved in more than 3,500 state and federal legal actions. He or one of his companies was the plaintiff in 1,900 cases and the defendant in 1,450. With Trump or his company as plaintiff, more than half the cases have been against gamblers at his
casinos
who had failed to pay off their debts. With Trump or his company as a defendant, the most common type of case involved personal injury cases at his hotels. In cases where there was a clear resolution, Trump's side won 451 times and lost 38.[167][168]

Trump has never filed for
personal bankruptcy, but his hotel and casino businesses have been declared
bankrupt
six times between 1991 and 2009 in order to re-negotiate debt with banks and owners of stock and bonds.[169][170]
Because the businesses used Chapter 11 bankruptcy, they were allowed to operate while negotiations proceeded. Trump was quoted by
Newsweek
in 2011 saying, "I do play with the bankruptcy laws – they're very good for me" as a tool for trimming debt.[171][172]

A 2016 analysis of Trump's business career by
The Economist
concluded that his "... performance [from 1985 to 2016] has been mediocre compared with the stock market and property in New York", noting both his successes and bankruptcies.[175]
A subsequent analysis by The Washington Post
concluded that "Trump is a mix of braggadocio, business failures, and real success", calling his casino bankruptcies the "most infamous flop" of his business career.[176]

Side ventures

After Trump took over the family real estate firm in 1971 and renamed it
The Trump Organization, he greatly expanded its real estate operations, and also ventured into numerous other business activities. The company eventually became the umbrella organization for several hundred individual business ventures and partnerships.[177]

Miss Universe

From 1996 to 2015, Trump owned part or all of the
Miss Universe
pageants.[182][183]
The Miss Universe Pageants include Miss USA
and Miss Teen USA, and his management of this business involved his family members; for example, daughter
Ivanka
once hosted Miss Teen USA. Trump hired the first female president of the Miss Universe business in 1997.[184]
He became dissatisfied with how CBS
scheduled the pageants, and took both Miss Universe and Miss USA to NBC
in 2002.[185][186]

In his 2015 U.S. presidential campaign kickoff speech, Trump made statements about
illegal immigrants
who crossed the border from Mexico. NBC then decided to end its business relationship with him and stated that it would no longer air the Miss Universe or Miss USA pageants on its networks.[187]
In September 2015, Trump bought NBC's share of the Miss Universe Organization and became its sole owner for three days. He then sold the entire company to the WME/IMG talent agency.[188]

Trump University

Trump University was a
for-profit education
company that was founded by Trump and his associates, Michael Sexton and Jonathan Spitalny. The company ran a real estate training program and charged between $1,500 and $35,000 per course.[189][190][191]
In 2005, the operation was notified by New York State authorities that its use of the word "university" was misleading and violated state law. After a second such notification in 2010, the name of the company was changed to the "Trump Entrepreneurial Institute".[192]
Trump was also found personally liable for failing to obtain a business license for the operation.[193]

In 2013, the State of New York filed a $40 million civil suit against Trump University; the suit alleged that the company had made false statements and defrauded consumers.[192][194]
In addition, two class-action civil lawsuits were filed in federal court relating to Trump University; they named Trump personally as well as his companies.[195]
During the presidential campaign, Trump criticized Judge
Gonzalo P. Curiel
who oversaw those two cases, alleging bias in his rulings because of his Mexican heritage.[196][197]
Shortly after Trump won the presidency, the parties agreed to a settlement of all three pending cases, whereby Trump paid a total of $25 million and denied any wrongdoing.[198][199]

In 2016,
The Washington Post
conducted investigations that revealed how the charity had committed several potential legal and ethical violations; those violations included alleged self-dealing
and possible tax evasion.[208]
After beginning an investigation into the foundation, the New York State Attorney General's office notified the Trump Foundation that it was allegedly in violation of New York laws regarding charities and ordered it to immediately cease its fundraising activities in New York.[209][210][211]
A Trump spokesman called the investigation a "partisan hit job".[209]
In response to mounting complaints, Trump's team announced in late December 2016 that the Trump Foundation would be dissolved to remove "even the appearance of any conflict with [his] role as President."[212]
According to an IRS filing in November 2017, the foundation intends to shut down and distribute its assets (about $970,000) to other charities. However, a spokesperson for the New York Attorney General's office said the foundation cannot legally shut down until an ongoing investigation of the charity is completed.[213]

Conflicts of interest

There were questions about how Trump would avoid conflicts of interest between his work in the White House and his business activities. At a press conference on January 10, 2017, Trump said that he and his daughter
Ivanka
would resign all roles with The Trump Organization, while his two adult sons Don Jr.
and Eric
would run the business, together with chief financial officer Allen Weisselberg.[214]

Trump retained his financial stake in the business.[215]
His attorney Sherri Dillon said that before the January 20 inauguration, Trump would put those business assets into a trust, which would hire an ethics advisor and a compliance counsel. She added that The Trump Organization
would not enter any new foreign business deals, while continuing to pursue domestic opportunities.[216]
As of April 2017, Trump companies owned more than 400 condo units and home lots in the United States, valued at over $250 million in total ($200,000 to $35 million each).[217]

The Apprentice

In 2003, Trump became the executive producer and host of the NBC
reality showThe Apprentice, in which a group of competitors battled for a high-level management job in one of Trump's commercial enterprises. Contestants were successively "fired" and eliminated from the game. For the first year of the show, Trump earned $50,000 per episode (roughly $700,000 for the first season), but following the show's initial success, he was paid $1 million per episode.[225]
In a July 2015 press release, Trump's campaign manager said that NBCUniversal
had paid him $213,606,575 for his 14 seasons hosting the show,[74]
although the network did not verify the statement.[226]
In 2007, Trump received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
for his contribution to television on The Apprentice.[164][227]

Along with British TV producer
Mark Burnett, Trump was hired as host of
The Celebrity Apprentice, in which celebrities compete to win money for their charities. While Trump and Burnett co-produced the show, Trump stayed in the forefront, deciding winners and "firing" losers. International versions of
The Apprentice
franchise
were co-produced by Burnett and Trump.

On February 16, 2015, NBC announced that they would be renewing
The Apprentice
for a 15th season.[228]
On February 27, Trump stated that he was "not ready" to sign on for another season because of the possibility of a presidential run.[229]
Despite this, on March 18, NBC announced they were going ahead with production.[230]
On June 29, after widespread negative reaction stemming from Trump's campaign announcement speech, NBC released a statement saying, "Due to the recent derogatory statements by Donald Trump regarding immigrants, NBCUniversal is ending its business relationship with Mr. Trump."[231]
Actor and former California GovernorArnold Schwarzenegger
replaced Trump as host for the fifteenth season.[232]
Trump is still credited as an executive producer for the show.[233]

Starting in the 1990s, Trump was a guest about 24 times on the nationally syndicated
Howard Stern Show
on talk radio.[241]
Trump also had his own daily talk radio
program called Trumped!, from 2004 to 2008.[242][243][244]
Since the 1980s, Trump's wealth and lifestyle have been a fixture of hip hop
lyrics,[245]
his name being quoted by more than 50 artists.[246]

Political career up to 2015

Trump's September 1987 advertisement in The Boston Globe, criticizing U.S. defense policy

In 1987 Trump vaguely expressed interest in running for the Presidency when he spent almost $100,000 to place full-page advertisements in three major newspapers. In his view at that time, "America should stop paying to defend countries that can afford to defend themselves",[247]
and "should present Western Europe and Japan with a bill for America's efforts to safeguard the passage of oil tankers in the Persian Gulf."[248]
The advertisements had also advocated for "reducing the budget deficit, working for peace in Central America, and speeding up nuclear disarmament negotiations with the Soviet Union."[249]
According to a Gallup
poll in December 1988, Trump was the tenth most admired person in America.[250][251]

In 1999, Trump filed an
exploratory committee
to seek the presidential nomination of the Reform Party
in 2000.[252][253]
A July 1999 poll matching him against likely Republican nominee George W. Bush
and likely Democratic nominee Al Gore
showed Trump with seven percent support.[254]
Trump eventually dropped out of the race due to party infighting, but still went on to win the party's California and Michigan primaries.[255][256][257]
He considered running for President in 2004.[258]

Trump publicly speculated about seeking the
2012
Republican presidential nomination, and a Wall Street Journal
/ NBC News poll released in March 2011 found Trump leading among potential contenders; he was one point ahead of former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney.[260]
A Newsweek
poll conducted in February 2011 showed Trump within a few points of incumbent president Barack Obama, with many voters undecided in the November 2012 general election for president of the United States.[261]
A poll released in April 2011 by Public Policy Polling
showed Trump having a nine-point lead in a potential contest for the Republican nomination for president while he was still actively considering a run.[262][263]
His moves were interpreted by some media as possible promotional tools for his reality show The Apprentice.[264][265][266]

Trump played a leading role in
"birther" conspiracy theories
that had been circulating since President Obama's
2008 presidential campaign.[267][268]
Beginning in March 2011, Trump publicly questioned Obama's citizenship and eligibility to serve as president.[269][270][271]
Although the Obama campaign had released a copy of the short-form birth certificate in 2008,[272]
Trump demanded to see the original "long-form" certificate.[269]
He mentioned having sent investigators to Hawaii to research the question, but he did not follow up with any findings.[269]
He also repeated a debunked allegation that Obama's grandmother said she had witnessed his birth in Kenya.[273][274]
When the White House
later released Obama's long-form birth certificate,[275]
Trump took credit for obtaining the document, saying "I hope it checks out."[276]
His official biography mentions his purported role in forcing Obama's hand,[277]
and he has defended his pursuit of the issue when prompted, later saying that his promotion of the conspiracy made him "very popular".[278]
In 2011, Trump had called for Obama to release his student records, questioning whether his grades warranted entry into an Ivy League
school.[279]
When asked in 2015 whether he believed Obama was born in the United States, Trump said he did not want to discuss the matter further.[280][281]
In September 2016, Trump publicly acknowledged that Obama was born in the United States, and said that the rumors had been started by Hillary Clinton
during her 2008 presidential campaign.[270][282][283]

In the
2012 Republican primaries, Trump generally had polled at or below 17 percent among the crowded field of possible candidates.[286]
On May 16, 2011, Trump announced he would not run for president in the 2012 election, while also saying he would have become the President of the United States, had he run.[264]

In 2013, Trump was a featured speaker at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC).[287]
During the lightly attended early-morning speech, Trump spoke out against illegal immigration, then-President Obama's "unprecedented media protection", and advised against harming Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security.[288][289]

Additionally, Trump spent over $1 million in 2013 to research a possible run for president of the United States.[290]
In October 2013, New York Republicans circulated a memo suggesting Trump should run for governor of the state in 2014 against Andrew Cuomo. In response to the memo, Trump said that while New York had problems and that its taxes were too high, running for governor was not of great interest to him.[291]
A February 2014 Quinnipiac poll had shown Trump losing to the more popular Cuomo by 37 points in a hypothetical election.[292]
In February 2015, Trump told NBC that he was not prepared to sign on for another season of The Apprentice, as he mulled his political future.[293]

Political affiliations

Trump meets with President Ronald Reagan
at a 1987 White House reception.

Trump's political party affiliation has changed numerous times over the years. Trump was a Democrat prior to 1987.[294]
In 1987, Trump registered as a Republican in Manhattan.[295]
After rumors of a presidential run, he was then invited by Democratic senators Jim Wright
and John Kerry, and Arkansas congressman
Beryl Anthony Jr., to host a fundraising dinner for Democratic Congressional candidates — and to switch parties. Anthony told the New York Times that "the message Trump has been preaching is a Democratic message," referring to the newspaper advertisements Trump had bought. Asked whether the rumors were true, Trump denied he was a candidate and said, "I believe that if I did run for President, I'd win."[249]

From 2001 to 2008, Trump identified himself as a Democrat, but in 2008, he endorsed Republican
John McCain
for president. In 2009, he officially changed his party registration to Republican.[296]
In December 2011, Trump became an independent for five months before returning to the Republican Party.[297][298]

Campaign contributions

According to a New York state report, Trump circumvented corporate and personal campaign donation limits in the 1980s—although no laws were broken—by donating money to candidates from 18 different business subsidiaries, rather than donating primarily in his own name.[302][303]
Trump told investigators he did so on the advice of his lawyers. He also said the contributions were not to gain favor with business-friendly candidates, but simply to satisfy requests from friends.[302][304]

Trump has made contributions to campaigns of both Republican Party and Democratic Party candidates, with the top ten recipients of his political contributions being six Democrats and four Republicans.[305]
After 2011, his campaign contributions were more favorable to Republicans than to Democrats.[306]

Trump participated in eleven of the twelve
Republican debates, skipping only the January 28 seventh debate, which was the last debate before primary voting began on the first of February. The debates received historically high television ratings, which increased the visibility of Trump's campaign.[309]
Republican leaders were hesitant to support him. They doubted his chances of winning the general election
and feared that he could harm the image of the Republican Party.[310][311]

By early 2016, the race had mostly centered on Trump and
U.S. SenatorTed Cruz.[312]
On Super Tuesday, Trump won the plurality of the vote, and he remained the front-runner throughout the remainder of the primaries. By March 2016, Trump became poised to win the Republican nomination.[313]
After a landslide win in Indiana
on May 3, 2016—which prompted the remaining candidates Ted Cruz and John Kasich
to suspend their presidential campaigns—RNC
Chairman Reince Priebus
declared Trump the presumptive Republican nominee.[314]
With 14,015,993 votes, Trump broke the all-time record in the history of the Republican Party for winning the most primary votes. He also set the record for the largest number of votes cast against the front runner.[315]
He won a total of 1441 delegates (58.3% of the total) and 44.9% of the vote versus 25.1% for the runner-up, Ted Cruz.

General election campaign

After becoming the presumptive Republican nominee, Trump shifted his focus to the
general election. Trump began campaigning against
Hillary Clinton, who became the presumptive
Democratic
nominee on June 6, 2016.

Clinton had established a significant lead over Trump in
national polls
throughout most of 2016. In early July, Clinton's lead narrowed in national polling averages following the FBI's re-opening of its investigation into her ongoing
email controversy.[316][317][318]

On July 15, 2016, Trump announced his selection of
IndianaGovernorMike Pence
as his running mate.[319]
Four days later on July 19, Trump and Pence were officially nominated by the Republican Party at the Republican National Convention.[320]
The list of convention speakers and attendees included former presidential nominee Bob Dole, but the other prior nominees did not attend.[321][322]

Two days later, Trump officially accepted the nomination in a 76-minute speech that was inspired by
Richard Nixon's 1968 acceptance speech.[323]
The historically long speech was watched by nearly 35 million people and received mixed reviews, with net negative viewer reactions according to CNN and Gallup polls.[324][325][326]

Media have described Trump's political positions as "populist",[332][333]
and some of his views cross party lines. For example, his economic campaign plan calls for large reductions in income taxes
and deregulation,[334]
consistent with Republican Party policies, along with significant infrastructure investment,[335]
usually considered a Democratic Party policy.[336][337]
According to political writer Jack Shafer, Trump may be a "fairly conventional American populist when it comes to his policy views", but he attracts
free media attention, sometimes by making outrageous comments.[338][339]

Trump has supported or leaned toward varying political positions over time.[340][341][342]Politico
has described his positions as "eclectic, improvisational and often contradictory",[342]
while NBC News
counted "141 distinct shifts on 23 major issues" during his campaign.[343]

Campaign rhetoric

In his campaign, Trump said that he disdained
political correctness; he also stated that the media had intentionally misinterpreted his words, and he made other claims of adverse
media bias.[344][345][346]
In part due to his fame, and due to his willingness to say things other candidates would not, and because a candidate who is gaining ground automatically provides a compelling news story, Trump received an unprecedented amount of free media coverage
during his run for the presidency, which elevated his standing in the Republican primaries.[347]

Fact-checking organizations have denounced Trump for making a record number of false statements compared to other candidates.[348][349][350]
At least four major publications – Politico,
The Washington Post,
The New York Times, and the
Los Angeles Times – have pointed out lies or falsehoods in his campaign statements.[351]NPR
said that Trump's campaign statements were often opaque or suggestive.[352]
Lucas Graves, an assistant professor of journalism and mass communication at the University of Wisconsin–Madison,[353]
opined that Trump "often speaks in a suggestive way that makes it unclear what exactly he meant, so that fact-checkers "have to be really careful" when picking claims to check, "to pick things that reflect what the speaker was clearly trying to communicate."[354]

Trump's penchant for
hyperbole
is believed to have roots in the New York real estate scene, where Trump established his wealth and where puffery
abounds.[355]
Trump has called his public speaking style "truthful hyperbole", an effective political tactic that may, however, backfire for overpromising.[355]
Martin Medhurst, a Baylor University
professor of communication and political science, analyzed Trump's frequently used rhetorical devices, such as catchy slogans, hyperbole, insinuations and
preterition.[356]

During the campaign, Trump was accused of pandering to
white nationalists. He gave an interview to far-right radio host
Alex Jones, retweeted open racists, and refused to condemn the support of
David Duke—a former
Imperial Wizard
of the Ku Klux Klan—in a CNN interview with
Jake Tapper.[361][362]
Trump later said he "disavowed Duke the day before at a major conference."[363]
In August 2016, he appointed Steve Bannon—the executive chairman of
Breitbart News—as his campaign CEO; the website was described by Bannon as "the platform for the alt-right."[364]
Bannon later told the Wall Street Journal
that he was an "economic nationalist" but not "a supporter of ethno-nationalism."[365]
According to Michael Barkun, the Trump campaign was remarkable for bringing fringe ideas, beliefs, and organizations into the mainstream.[366]

Financial disclosures

In compliance with
FEC
regulations of all presidential candidates, Trump published a 92-page financial disclosure form in 2015.[73]
He did not release his tax returns,[367]
which was contrary to usual practice by every presidential candidate since Gerald Ford
in 1976.[368]
Although it is tradition to do so, presidential candidates are not required by law to release their returns,[369]
and Trump's refusal to do so led to speculation that he was hiding something.[370]
Trump said that his tax returns were being audited, and his lawyers had advised him against releasing the returns.[371][372]
However, no law prohibits release of tax returns during an audit.[373]
Tax attorneys differ about whether such a release is wise legal strategy.[374]
Trump has told the news media that his tax rate was none of their business, and that he tries to pay "as little tax as possible".[375][376][377]

In October 2016, portions of Trump's state filings as part of Trump's 1995 tax return were leaked to a reporter from
The New York Times. They show that using allowed deductions for losses, Trump claimed a loss of $916 million that year. During the second presidential debate, Trump acknowledged using the deduction, but declined to provide details such as the specific years it was applied.[378]
He said that he did use the tax code to avoid paying taxes.[379][380][381]

On March 14, 2017, the first two pages of Trump's 2005 federal income tax returns were leaked to
MSNBC's
Rachel Maddow. The two pages showed that Trump paid $38 million in federal taxes and had a gross adjusted income of $150 million.[382][383]
The White House confirmed the authenticity of the 2005 documents and stated: "Despite this substantial income figure and tax paid, it is totally illegal to steal and publish tax returns."[382][383]

Sexual misconduct allegations

Two days before the
second presidential debate, a
2005 recording
surfaced in which Trump was heard bragging about forcibly kissing and groping women.[384][385][386]
The hot mic
recording was captured on a studio bus in which Trump and Billy Bush
were preparing to film an episode of Access Hollywood.
"I just start kissing them," Trump said, "I don't even wait. And when you're a star, they let you do it, you can do anything ... grab them by the pussy."[387]
During the recording, Trump also spoke of his efforts to seduce a married woman, saying he "moved on her very heavily."[387]
These statements were recorded several months after Trump married his third and current wife, Melania, who was pregnant at the time.[387][388]

Trump's language on the tape was described by the media as "vulgar", "sexist", and descriptive of
sexual assault. The incident prompted him to make his first public apology during the campaign,[389][390]
and caused outrage across the political spectrum,[391][392]
with many Republicans withdrawing their endorsements of his candidacy and some urging him to quit the race.[393]
Subsequently, at least 15 women[394]
came forward with new accusations of sexual misconduct, including unwanted kissing and groping, resulting in widespread media coverage.[395][396]

Trump and his campaign have denied all of the sexual misconduct accusations, which Trump has called "false smears", and alleged a conspiracy against him.[397][398][399]
In his two public statements in response to the controversy, Trump responded by alleging that Bill Clinton, former President of the United States and husband of Trump's Democratic rival
Hillary Clinton, had "abused women" and that Hillary had bullied her husband's victims.[400]
A total of 19 women have accused him of sexual misconduct as of 2017.[401]

Election to the presidency

On November 8, 2016, Trump got 306 pledged
electoral votes
versus 232 for Clinton. The official counts were 304 and 227 respectively, after defections on both sides.[402]
Clinton conceded the election in the early hours of November 9. Trump then delivered his victory speech, which was conciliatory in contrast with some of his previous rhetoric.[403][404]

Trump received a smaller share of the popular vote than Clinton, making him the fifth person to be elected president
while losing the popular vote.[405][nb 1]
Clinton finished ahead by 2.1 percentage points, with 48.04% of the vote and 65,844,954 votes to 46.09% of the vote and 62,979,879 votes, with neither candidate reaching a majority
nationwide.[408][409]

Trump's victory was considered a stunning political upset, as polls consistently showed Hillary Clinton leading nationwide (which were consistent with her win in the popular vote) and in most battleground states, while Trump's support had been underestimated throughout his campaign.[410]
The errors in some state polls were later partially attributed to pollsters overestimating Clinton's support among well-educated and nonwhite voters, while underestimating Trump's support among white working-class voters.[411]

Trump is the wealthiest president in U.S. history.[412]
He is also the first president without prior government or military service.[413][414][415]
Of the 43[nb 2]
previous presidents, 38 had held prior elective office, two had not held elective office but had served in the Cabinet, and three had never held public office but had been commanding generals.[415]

Protests

Some rallies during the primary season were accompanied by protests or violence, including attacks on Trump supporters and vice-versa both inside and outside the venues.[417][418][419]
Trump's election victory sparked protests across the United States, in opposition to his policies and his inflammatory statements. Trump initially said on Twitter that these were "professional protesters, incited by the media", and were "unfair", but he later stated that he loves their passion for the country.[420][421]
After Obama's re-election in 2012, Trump had tweeted "We can't let this happen. We should march on Washington and stop this travesty. Our nation is totally divided!"[422]

On the Saturday following Trump's inauguration, massive anti-Trump demonstrations took place in the United States and worldwide, notably the
Women Marches, which gathered 2,600,000 people worldwide.[423]
The Women's March on Washington alone saw over 500,000 people marching to protest Trump's election.[424]

Russia

In January 2017, American intelligence agencies – the
CIA,
FBI
and NSA, represented by the
Director of National Intelligence
– jointly stated with "high confidence" that the Russian government
interfered
in the 2016 presidential election to favor the election of Trump.[425][426]
In March 2017, then FBI DirectorJames Comey
told Congress that "the FBI, as part of our counterintelligence mission, is investigating the Russian government's efforts to interfere in the 2016 presidential election. That includes investigating the nature of any links between individuals associated with the Trump campaign and the Russian government, and whether there was any coordination between the campaign and Russia's efforts."[427]
Later, in testimony to the Senate Intelligence Committee on June 8, he affirmed he has "no doubt" that Russia interfered in the 2016 election, adding "they did it with purpose and sophistication".[428]

Putin and Trump, July 7, 2017

One of Trump's campaign managers,
Paul Manafort, had worked for several years to help pro-Russian politician
Viktor Yanukovich
win the Ukrainian presidency.[429]
Other Trump associates, including former National Security Advisor Michael T. Flynn
and political consultant Roger Stone, have been connected to Russian officials.[430][431]
Russian agents were overheard during the campaign saying they could use Manafort and Flynn to influence Trump.[432]
Members of Trump's campaign and later his White House staff, particularly Flynn, were in contact with Russian officials both before and after the November election.[433]
In a December 29, 2016 conversation, Flynn and Kislyak discussed the recently imposed sanctions against Russia; Trump later fired Flynn for falsely claiming he had not discussed the sanctions.[434]

In 2017, Trump and other senior White House officials asked the Director of National Intelligence, the NSA Director, the FBI Director, and two chairs of congressional committees to publicly dispute the news reports about contacts between Trump associates and Russia.[435]
Trump called the Special Counsel investigation
"the single greatest witch hunt of a politician in American history!"[436]

Trump's connections to Russia were intensely scrutinized by the media.[437][438]
During the campaign, Trump repeatedly praised Russian President Vladimir Putin as a strong leader.[439][440]
Former director of national intelligence James Clapper
said Russia's interference in the election "cast doubt on the legitimacy" of Trump's electoral victory.[441][442]

Presidency

Transition

President Obama and President-elect Trump meet in the Oval Office
on November 10, 2016, two days after the election.

Two days after the election, Trump had his first-ever meeting with outgoing president Barack Obama to discuss plans for an orderly
transition of power.
The New York Times
said "It was an extraordinary show of cordiality and respect between two men who have been political enemies and are stylistic opposites."[443]
The BBC stated that "their antipathy was barely concealed" in "awkward photos" of the meeting.[444]

On January 31, Trump
nominated
U.S. Appeals Court judge Neil Gorsuch, described as a solid conservative, to fill the vacancy left on the
Supreme Court
by the death of Justice Antonin Scalia
eleven months earlier.[468]
The Senate confirmed the nomination on April 7 with a 54–45 vote, after Republicans invoked the "nuclear option" which allowed confirmation by a simple majority.[469][470]

Domestic policy

Economy and trade

Trump's campaign tax plan called for levelling the
corporate tax rate
to 15%, eliminating various business loopholes and deductions,[334]
and reducing the number of brackets for personal income tax: the top rate would be reduced from 39.6% to 25%, a large "zero bracket" would be created, and the alternative minimum tax
and estate tax
(which currently applies to individual estates over $5.45 million or $10.9 million per married couple) would both be eliminated.[471]
Trump's comments about the minimum wage
have been inconsistent.[472][473][474]

Energy and climate

Trump's energy policy advocates domestic industrial support for both fossil and renewable energy sources in order to curb reliance on Middle-Eastern oil and possibly turn the U.S. into a net energy exporter.[493]His appointed advisers
favor a less regulated energy market and, because they do not consider climate change
a threat, see no need for immediate action.[494]

Government size and deregulation

Trump's early policies have favored
deregulation
and a smaller federal government. He became the first president in sixteen years to sign a Congressional Review Act
disapproval resolution; the law had been used only once before.[503]
During his first six weeks in office, he abolished ninety federal regulations.[504][505]

A week later Trump signed
Executive Order 13771, directing administrative agencies to repeal two existing regulations for every new regulation they issue.[509][510]Harvard Law
professor Jody Freeman
said that the order would do no more than slow the regulatory process, because it did not block rules required by statute.[511]

On February 24, 2017, Trump ordered the agencies to create task forces to determine which regulations are deemed burdensome to the U.S. economy.[512]
Agency defenders expressed opposition to Trump's criticisms, saying that the bureaucracy exists to protect people against well-organized, well-funded interest groups.[513]

During his campaign, Trump repeatedly vowed to repeal and replace
Obamacare.[518][519]
Shortly after taking office, he urged Congress to repeal and replace it. In May of that year, the United States House of Representatives
voted to repeal the ACA.[520]
Over the course of several months' effort, however, the Senate was unable to pass any version of a repeal bill.[521]
Trump has expressed a desire to "let Obamacare fail", and the Trump administration has cut the ACA enrollment period in half and drastically reduced funding for advertising and other ways to encourage enrollment.[522][523][524]
The tax reform Trump signed into law at the end of his first year in office effectively repealed the individual health insurance mandate
that was a major element of the Obamacare health insurance system; this repeal is scheduled to be implemented in 2019.[525][526][527]

Following the
November 2015 Paris attacks, Trump made a controversial proposal to ban Muslim non-citizens from entering the United States until stronger vetting systems could be implemented.[534][535][536]
He later restrained the proposed ban to countries with a "proven history of terrorism".[537][538][539]

On January 27, 2017, Trump signed
Executive Order 13769, which suspended admission of refugees for 120 days and denied entry to citizens of
Iraq,
Iran,
Libya,
Somalia,
Sudan,
Syria, and
Yemen
for 90 days, citing security concerns. The order was imposed without warning and took effect immediately.[540]
Confusion and protests caused chaos at many airports,[541]
as travelers were detained on arriving in the United States or barred from boarding U.S.-bound planes.[542]
The administration then clarified that visitors with a green card
were exempt from the ban.[543][544]

On March 6, Trump issued a
revised order, which excluded Iraq, gave specific exemptions for
permanent residents, and removed priorities for Christian minorities.[549][540]
Again federal judges in Hawaii, Maryland and Virginia blocked its implementation.[550]
On June 26, 2017, the Supreme Court
ruled that the ban could be enforced on visitors who lack a "credible claim of a bona fide
relationship with a person or entity in the United States."[551]
The court scheduled full hearings in October.[551]

On September 24, 2017, the temporary order was replaced by
Presidential Proclamation 9645, which permanently restricts travel from the originally targeted countries except Iraq and Sudan, and further bans travelers from North Korea, Chad, and certain Venezuelan officials.[552]
These provisions were slated to take effect on October 18,[552]
and the Supreme Court cancelled the hearing that was planned for October 10.[553]
On October 17, a federal judge in Hawaii blocked the new restrictions, except for North Korea and Venezuela.[554]
On October 24, 2017, the Supreme Court dismissed a March appeal as moot, while expressing "no views on the merits" of the case.[555]
On December 4, the Supreme Court allowed the September version to go into full effect, while legal challenges continued in lower courts.[556]

Social issues

Trump is conservative, describes himself as
pro-life, and opposes abortion except for cases of rape, incest, and circumstances endangering the health of the mother.[557]
He has said that he is committed to appointing justices who would try to overturn the ruling in Roe v. Wade.[558]
He personally supports "traditional marriage"[497]
but considers the nationwide legality
of same-sex marriage
a "settled" issue.[558]

Foreign policy

President Trump together with other leaders at the 43rd G7 summit
in Italy

Trump arriving in Saudi Arabia, May 2017

Trump has been described as
non-interventionist[567][568]
and nationalist.[569]
He repeatedly stated that he supports "America First" foreign policy.[570]
He supports increasing United States military defense spending,[569]
but favors decreasing United States spending on NATO
and in the Pacific region.[571]
He says America should look inward, stop "nation building", and re-orient its resources toward domestic needs.[568]
As a candidate he questioned whether he, as president, would automatically extend security guarantees to NATO members,[572]
and suggested that he might leave NATO unless changes are made to the alliance.[573]
But as president he has reaffirmed the U.S. commitment to NATO.[574]

In order to confront the
Islamic State of Iraq and Syria
(ISIS), Trump in 2015 called for seizing the oil in ISIS-occupied areas, using U.S. air power and ground troops.[575]
In 2016, Trump advocated sending 20,000 to 30,000 U.S. troops to the region,[576]
a position he later retracted.[577]

Israel

Regarding the
Israeli–Palestinian conflict, Trump has stated the importance of being a neutral party during potential negotiations, while also having stated that he is "a big fan of Israel".[583]
During the campaign he said he would relocate the U.S. embassy in Israel
to Jerusalem
from its current location, Tel Aviv.[584]
On May 22, 2017, Trump was the first U.S. president to visit the Western Wall
in Jerusalem, during his first foreign trip, visiting Israel, Italy, the Vatican, and
Belgium.[585]
On December 6, 2017, Trump officially recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, despite objections from Palestinian and world leaders. Trump added that he would initiate the process of establishing a new U.S. embassy in Jerusalem.[586]
In an emergency session on 21 December 2017, the United Nations General Assembly
condemned the move by adopting a resolution that "calls upon all States to refrain from the establishment of diplomatic missions in the Holy City of Jerusalem."[587][588]

Relations with Cuba

On June 16, 2017, Trump announced that he was cancelling the
Obama administrations deals
with Cuba, while also expressing hope that a new deal could be negotiated between Cuba and the United States.[589][590]

North Korea

North Korea became a major issue in mid-2017. During the campaign and the early months of his presidency, Trump had hoped that China would help to rein in North Korea's nuclear ambitions and missile tests.[591]
However, North Korea accelerated their missile
and nuclear tests, leading to increased tension.[591]
In July, the country tested two long-range missiles identified by Western observers as intercontinental ballistic missiles, potentially capable of reaching Alaska, Hawaii, and the U.S. mainland.[592][593]
In August, Trump dramatically escalated his rhetoric against North Korea, warning that further provocation against the U.S. will be met with "fire and fury like the world has never seen."[594]
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un
then threatened to direct the country's next missile test toward Guam. Trump warned Kim of strong retaliation if North Korea attacked Guam or U.S. allies.[595]

According to a
Comey memo
of a private conversation on February 14, 2017, Trump said he "hoped" Comey would drop the investigation into Michael Flynn,[600]
who had been forced to resign as National Security Advisor
after it was discovered that he had misled the Vice President about communications with Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak.

In March and April, Trump had told Comey that the ongoing suspicions formed a "cloud" impairing his presidency,[601]
and asked him to publicly state that he was not personally under investigation.[602]
He also asked DNIDan Coats
and NSA DirectorMichael Rogers
to issue statements saying there was no evidence that his campaign colluded with Russia during the 2016 election.[603]
Both refused, considering this an inappropriate request, although not illegal.[604]
Comey eventually testified on June 8 that while he was director, the FBI investigations did not target Trump himself.[601][605]
In a statement on Twitter Trump implied that he had "tapes" of conversations with Comey, before later stating that he did not in fact have such tapes.[606]

The Washington Post
reported that days after Comey's dismissal the special counsel had started investigating whether Trump had obstructed justice.[608]
Trump's lawyer Jay Sekulow
stated that he had not been notified of any such investigation.[609][610]
ABC News later reported that the special counsel is gathering preliminary information about possible obstruction of justice
but has not launched a full-scale investigation.[611]

Impeachment efforts

In July 2017, Congressman
Brad Sherman
(D-CA) introduced an article of impeachment.[612][613]
In November 2017 six other Democratic representatives introduced five articles of impeachment citing "obstruction of justice", "violation of the foreign emoluments clause", "violation of the domestic emoluments clause", "undermining the independence of the federal judiciary," and "undermining the freedom of the press".[614]

In December 2017, an impeachment resolution was put to a vote. Introduced by Congressman
Al Green
(D-TX), it comprised two articles of impeachment
titled "Associating the Presidency with White Nationalism, Neo-Nazism and Hatred" and "Inciting Hatred and Hostility".[615]
It was defeated 364 to 58.[616]

Political image

False and misleading statements

As president, Trump has frequently made false statements in public speeches and remarks.[620][621][622]
Trump uttered "at least one false or misleading claim per day on 91 of his first 99 days" in office according to The New York Times,[620]
and 1,318 total in his first 263 days in office according to the "Fact Checker" political analysis column of The Washington Post,[623]
which also wrote, "President Trump is the most fact-challenged politician that The Fact Checker has ever encountered... the pace and volume of the president's misstatements means that we cannot possibly keep up."[621]

2020 presidential campaign

Trump signaled his intention to run for a second term by filing with the FEC within hours of assuming the presidency.[624]
This transformed his 2016 election committee into a 2020 reelection one.[625]
Trump marked the official start of the campaign with a campaign rally in Melbourne, Florida, on February 18, 2017, less than a month after taking office.[626]
By February 1, 2017, the campaign had already raised over $7 million.[627]

See also

Notes

^Records on this matter date from the year 1824. The number "five" includes the elections of 1824, 1876, 1888, 2000, and 2016. Despite their similarities, some of these five elections had peculiar results; e.g.
John Quincy Adams
trailed in both
the national popular vote and the electoral college in 1824 (since no-one had a majority in the electoral college, Adams was chosen by the House of Representatives), and Samuel Tilden
in 1876 remains the only losing candidate to win an actual majority of the popular vote (rather than just a plurality).[406][407]

^Eder, Steve; Philipps, Dave (August 1, 2016).
"Donald Trump's Draft Deferments: Four for College, One for Bad Feet".
The New York Times.
ISSN0362-4331. Retrieved
August 2,
2016.
Because of his medical exemption, his lottery number would have been irrelevant, said Richard Flahavan, a spokesman for the Selective Service System who has worked for the agency for three decades ... Still, Mr. Trump, in the interviews, said he believed he could have been subject to another physical exam to check on his bone spurs, had his draft number been called. 'I would have had to go eventually because that was a minor medical ...' But the publicly available draft records of Mr. Trump include the letters 'DISQ' next to his exam date, with no notation indicating that he would be re-examined.

^Brenner, Marie (September 1990).
"After The Gold Rush".
Vanity Fair. Retrieved
January 10,
2016.
"They were married in New York during Easter of 1977. Mayor Beame attended the wedding at Marble Collegiate Church. Donald had already made his alliance with Roy Cohn, who would become his lawyer and mentor.

^"Part 2: Donald Trump on 'Watters' World'".
Watters' World. Fox News Channel. February 6, 2016. Retrieved
September 4,
2016.
WATTERS: "Have you ever smoked weed?" TRUMP: "No, I have not. I have not. I would tell you 100 percent because everyone else seems to admit it nowadays, so I would actually tell you. This is almost like, it's almost like 'Hey, it's a sign'. No, I have never. I have never smoked a cigarette, either."

^Cassidy, John (May 17, 2016).
"Just How Rich Is Donald Trump?".
The New Yorker.
The gap between Forbes's $4.5 billion figure and Bloomberg's $2.9 billion figure is largely attributable to differences in how the two publications appraised individual properties.

^Dunlap, David (July 30, 2015).
"1973: Meet Donald Trump".
The New York Times.
Archived
from the original on July 31, 2015. Trump Management ... was also to allow the league to present qualified applicants for every fifth vacancy ... Trump himself said he was satisfied that the agreement did not 'compel the Trump Organization to accept persons on welfare as tenants unless as qualified as any other tenant.'